Ted Stroll was born in Vancouver, Canada. He earned a bachelor's degree from Williams College in 1978, a graduate degree from Columbia University in 1983, and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law in 1987. His career experience includes working as a judicial staff attorney in the California Supreme Court and the California Court of Appeal and translating Spanish, Portuguese, and French. Stroll as been affiliated with the Sustainable Trails Coalition.